hibakusha

Where does the word "hibakusha" come from? It comes from Japanese hibakusha, and was adopted directly into English (1950s-1960s).

Hibakusha’s story begins in Japanese: hibakusha meant “a survivor of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Literally 'bomb-affected person', coined to name survivors of the atomic bombings. It reached English by 1950s-1960s as hibakusha. Japanese 'explosion-affected people', survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, hibakusha means a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · 1945 hibakusha "a survivor of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki", literally 'bomb-affected person', coined to name survivors of the atomic bombings.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1950s-1960s hibakusha "a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombings", Japanese 'explosion-affected people', survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.